Warbird Information Exchange

The March 2012 edition of SEAPOWER Magazine is reporting that Strike Fighter Squadron 101 (VFA-101) will stand up on May 1, 2012 at Eglin Air Force Base:

Navy F-35 Training Unit Set for May Stand-Up

Anthony

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I hope the F-35 is debugged and becomes a successful platform
and I'm REALLY pleased to see "Old Moe" return. But the single
engine and no internal gun bother me......

No internal gun again? Don't they ever learn?

Maybe F-18 = gunslinger and F-35 = mud mover?

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

I read that the Air Force model has an internal gun and the B and C models have a gun pod.

Correct - from a General Dynamics press release here dated January 31, 2012:

An internally mounted GAU-22/A gun system will arm the conventional take-off and landing variant (F-35A), while externally mounted gun systems will be used by the short take-off and vertical landing variant (F-35B) and carrier version (F-35C) of the aircraft.

Anthony

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TBH, on a carrier, being able to remove the gun is a benefit because every pound of weight you can offload for missions that don't need it is more weight you can put on target or more fuel you can carry to get you further out. If you're doing CAS or Hunter/Killer (FastFAC), you upload the conformal gun pod. If you're doing Strike, you don't and get an extra 1000 lbs + of warload.

On that nasty, rainy, windy night, with the deck moving as it likes to do on occasion, I am sure that the pilots will be glad not to have that extra weight onboard as they cross the ramp. The red shirts will be happy not having to maintain the gun all the time as well.

Guys, we learned 40 years ago that a gun was a mighty
nice thing to have in a dogfight. We learned that the hard
way with MiGs over NVN. The early Phantoms, also were
built with no internal gun. We fitted them with a centrally
mounted gun pod. My memory is that if you were straffing
it worked out pretty well. If you were pulling Gs doing ACM,
you were hosing rounds all over the sky. I hope we don't
have to relearn those lessons.

............and we also learned that a second engine is
a mighty nice thing to have over blue water........

JOM - You're right, a gun is nice to have a dogfight. But if you're not going to dogfight, why have it? The Navy already flies the F/A-18s without ammo in the gun if they're on a dedicated strike mission. I think the E/A-18G's usually fly without gun ammo as well. The point for the Navy is that they don't want to carry around dead weight when they don't have to and I think that's a good idea. They fly almost exclusively in packages, so not all aircraft need to be able to fight air-to-air. The USAF on the other had likes to fly small strike packages with as few as 2 aircraft, so the ability to fight and fly is more critical on any mission.

The C model is turing into an overweight mess. Being able to leave the gun pod off for what will be the vast majority of missions (especially training) will make it easier to get off and on the boat. However, uploading it kills the 'stealth'. As far as cutting the warload because of the extra 1000 pounds, the warload is tiny anyway - the internal bays can't hold much at all, and as soon as you start hanging pylons and other crap off of it, well, there goes that nasty 'stealth' thing again. Isn't that why this thing is so blasted expensive, because it is supposed to be a 'stealth' jet? It is, along as you don't want it to actually do very much. Its not a replacement for the F-18/F-14/A-6/A-7.

Oh, and by the way, the whole back end is being redesigned because they can't get the hook to engage the wires.

The B model is overweight, overcomplex, can't lift what it is supposed to, and once again, is decidely un-stealthy when it actually carries enough weapons to be useful.

I live near Ft. Worth. I can't tell you how many F-35 test/acceptance flights have been postponed or cancelled because they can't get the things to work. L-M is working very hard to deliver the ones in the pipeline now, and you can almost hear an audible sigh of relief from over there every time one of them gets to fly an hour long local without a problem.

Oh, and by the way - this jet may be stealthy from a distance, but if it is in visual range, it sticks out like a sore thumb. You can always see (and hear) it long before you can the ever present F-16 chase. And LOUD!!!!

More from the Navy's website here:

Navy's Newest Squadron Prepares for New F-35 Fighters

Air show fans may notice that Commander Scott "Intake" Kartvedt is the Commanding Officer of VFA-101. Intake was with the Blue Angels from 2000-2002.

Anthony

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Didn't they learn there lesson 40 years ago?

And why on earth are we designing planes for both the Army and Navy? Making one plane for both defense operations is a bad idea...

And, the F-35 does not have super cruse, unlike the F-22. so the 35's will be fuel hogs. And having a gun pod removes a belly mounted tank!!!

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My racing will fund my warbirding. Hopefully...

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/ChristopherDeshongRacing
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisDRacing

The gun will still require maintenance whether it's installed or sitting on a pallet in the hanger. Specials, hourly's and preservation inspections are a never ending cycle.

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Rob

Didn't know the Army was getting F-35's ......